26 Kendo Tournamen (2/2)

”Really? So following you around are orders from her grandfather?” Mahiru asked as she monitored Tomoyo's every response at the side of her sight. Tomoyo froze after hearing his reply and she had sunken deep into her own thoughts.

”Yeah so calling her as such is wro—” the robot girl suddenly moved in front of him. She looked directly into his eyes and she would only do this if she wanted to make a point.

”oh? Looks like she disagrees with you Kazuya-kun?” Mahiru giggled.

”Is that so? You don't like to be called your grandfather's robot?”

*nod*

”Aren't you just following his orders?”

*n…od* she couldn't deny it.

”You ignore it when I say you don't need to follow me around all the time right?”

*nod*

”Is it because your grandfather said so?”

*nod*

”Then why are we even having this discussion?” he raised his eyebrow and looked at her like a cop who just cornered a criminal into confessing.

”…” she looked down on the ground.

For Kazuya, getting this girl to speak on her own was a challenge he decided to take on. Even if he did understand her to an extent, it would be less trouble for him if she actually spoke with her mouth.

”Kazuya-kun, I think she's trying to say that she doesn't like to be called her grandfather's robot because she doesn't think she is” Tomoyo looked at Mahiru as if wondering what this girl was suddenly up to.

”Oh you understand her?” Kazuya was surprised that she got it right. Tomoyo didn't deny it so that was proof that she did not make the wrong assumption.

”Not her per se… but I do know how girls think. She probably doesn't even mind being called robot girl by you”

”Is she right?” he turned towards the girl in question who had taken a step back to his side.

*nod*

”How about you prove it Shiroyuki-san?” She smiled. ”at the Tournament tomorrow, you are to stay with the team and not follow Kazuya-kun unless he calls for you. Like he said earlier, everyone should solely focus on winning the tournament so unless he has advice to give you, do not follow him around. That should count as following his instructions”

”…” Tomoyo thought deeply. She found no reason to refuse her suggestion. They would be there as a whole team and her grandfather would be present as an advisor to their coach as well. She gave a nod to them after thinking it over.

”Good! Hopefully our team can get this year's team championship too!” Mahiru clapped her hands in excitement and left the two to themselves. Kazuya went back to his corner and continued his training and Tomoyo followed soon afterwards.

Kazuya went home early today since Jirou had instructed him to take a rest. They both knew the burden his training puts on the body so he was taken home instead of training at the dojo. Mei and Kyouko on the other hand worked overtime so they could show their support in the tournament. They were not able to see him when they got home and when he left for school.

The tournament's schedule was, team matches in the morning and the individual matches in the afternoon. Kazuya and the rest of the kendo club were exempt from classes because of this.

They met up at the club's dojo before getting on the academy's bus to head for the tournament venue. The bus dropped them off in front of a stadium where various teams from different schools have been gathered.

A lot of eyes were on their bus as their academy was famous for always having a good rank for each major sport they invested in. The other teams however focused their gazes on a single person that got off the Sacred Forest Academy's team bus.

”It's her. She's back”

”I wonder if she can get the top spot this time”

”Word is that the Shiroyukis separated her from their famous elite class for special training”

The students murmured as they passed by. Tomoyo remained unmoved despite the students not really lowering their voices. She silently stood with the team and followed her grandfather and their coach's lead to the stadium.

”What do you think Kazuya-kun? Shiroyuki-san is pretty famous right? No one in the first grade has ever made the top three so that should say a lot about you since you always say that she's weak”

”Doesn't matter to me. It's true anyways. A lot of people our age have to fight to live” he replied. Kazuya had seen it with his own eyes. She wouldn't believe him anyway so he didn't bother explaining.

”Do you think we're still in the feudal era or something” Mahiru giggled and assumed he was once again joking with his weird sense of humor.

”I was referring to something close to medieval times” he gave a dry laugh.

Their team approached the registration area where Miyamoto submitted the list of students participating in both the team matches and the individual matches. They were placed in the D block for the team matches while in the individual matches, Tomoyo was seeded in Group A and Kazuya was placed in Group C.

Miyamoto and Jirou were relieved to hear the news. The two stars they were counting on were only going to meet in the finals if they make it through to the rounds. Jirou was especially ecstatic as he looked on his dojo's logo printed on the back of both his granddaughter and Kazuya's uniforms.

”Well, well, well, if it isn't Shiroyuki Jirou and the Sacred Forest Academy team” another strong looking elderly man approached. He led another team of students who looked hostile.

”What do you want old bat?” Jirou's eyebrows twitched after hearing a familiar voice he didn't want to enter his ears.

”Nothing much. Just wanted to see you and your team before you drop out from the team matches like last year” his team snickered with him. Kazuya looked at some members of the other team and immediately lost interest.

”Hey Kazuya-kun do you know who the tallest girl with the long black hair is?” Mahiru whispered to him.

”Not interested in pretty girls”

”So you do have eyes! That's not what I'm talking about though. That girl was the individual champion last year and that coach's granddaughter. The successor of the Kuronuma dojo. She's the Shiroyuki-san of their team so to speak”

”So she's the one that beat the robot girl?” Kazuya took another look at the girl hidden at the center of the team. The black-haired girl's eyes were looking at Tomoyo shifting slowly through the team. She met Kazuya's gaze and his eyes and he immediately avoided it after getting a feeling.

”Yup! She's a 5th grader same as me. What do you think?” Mahiru looked at Kazuya but she was already too late as he had already fallen into his thoughts.

”(This girl… I can sense mana coming from her. She can use it?)”